December 17, 1948
[This broadcast message was written by Comrade Mao Tse-tung for the Headquarters
of the Central Plains and the Eastern China People's Liberation Armies.]
General Tu Yu-ming, General Chiu Ching-chuan, General Li Mi and all corps, division and regiment commanders of the two armies under Generals Chiu Ching-chuan and Li Mi:
You are now at the end of your rope. Huang Wei's army was completely wiped out on the night of the 15th, Li Yen-nien's army has taken to its heels and fled south, and it is hopeless for you to think of joining them. Are you hoping to break through? How can you break through when the People's Liberation Army is all around? During the last few days you have tried to break through, but what came of it? Your planes and tanks, too, are useless. We have more planes and tanks than you, that is, artillery and explosives which people call our home-made planes and tanks. Aren't they ten times more formidable than your foreign-made planes and tanks? Your army under Sun Yuan-liang is finished, and more than half the men in your two remaining armies have been wounded or captured. You have brought many miscellaneous and idle personnel of various organizations and many young students from Hsuchow and forced them into your army, but how can these people fight? For more than ten days, you have been surrounded ring upon ring and received blow upon blow, and your position has shrunk greatly. You have such a tiny place, only a little more than ten li square, and so many people are crowded together that a single shell from us can kill a lot of you. Your wounded soldiers and the families who have followed the army are complaining to high heaven. Your soldiers and many of your officers have no stomach for any more fighting. You, as deputy commander-in-chief, as commanders of armies, corps, divisions and regiments, should understand and sympathize with the feelings of your subordinates and families, hold their lives dear, find a way out for them as early as possible and stop sending them to a senseless death.
Now that Huang Wei's army has been completely wiped out and Li Yen-nien's army has fled towards Pengpu, we are able to concentrate an attacking force several times your strength. This time we have fought for only forty days, and you have already lost 10 divisions under Huang Po-tao, 11 under Huang Wei, 4 under Sun Yuan-liang, 4 under Feng Chih-an, 2 under Sun Liang-cheng, 1 under Liu Ju-ming, 1 division in Suhsien and another in Lingpi -- altogether you have lost 34 whole divisions. Of these, 27 divisions were completely wiped out by our army; the only exceptions were the 3 divisions led by Ho Chi-feng and Chang Ke-hsia and 1 division led by Liao Yun-chou, which revolted and came over to our side, and 1 division led by Sun Liang-cheng and the 2 half-divisions led by Chao Pi-kuang and Huang Tse-hua, which surrendered.[1] You have seen with your own eyes the fate of the 3 armies under Huang Po-tao, Huang Wei and Sun Yuan-liang. You should learn from the example of General Cheng Tung-kuo in Changchun[2] and from the current example of corps commander Sun Liang-cheng and division commanders Chao Pi-kuang and Huang Tse-hua and immediately order all your troops to lay down their arms and cease resistance. Our army will guarantee life and safety to you, high-ranking officers, and to all officers and men. This is your only way out. Think it over! If you feel this is right, then do it. If you still want to fight another round, you can have it, but you will be finished off anyway.[3]
Headquarters of the Central Plains
People's Liberation Army
Headquarters of the Eastern China People's Liberation Army
NOTES
1. Ho Chi-feng and Chang Ke-hsia, Deputy Commanders of the Kuomintang's 3rd Pacification Zone, revolted against the Kuomintang in the Chiawang sector, northeast of Hsuchow, on November 8, 1948, during the first stage of the Huai-Hai campaign, and came over to the People's Liberation Army with 1 corps headquarters, 3 divisions and 1 regiment, totalling more than 20,000 men. Liao Yun-chou, Commander of the 110th Division of the Kuomintang's 85th Corps, revolted against the Kuomintang at Lochi, southwest of Suhsien, Anhwei Province, on November 27, 1948, during the second stage of the Huai-Hai campaign, and came over to the People's Liberation Army with his division headquarters and 2 full regiments, totalling 5,500 men. Sun Liang-cheng, Deputy Commander of the Kuomintang's 1st Pacification Zone and Commander of the 107th Corps, came over to the People's Liberation Army with his corps headquarters and 1 division, totalling 5,800 men, northwest of Suining, Kiangsu Province, on November 13, 1948, during the first stage of the Huai-Hai campaign. Chao Pi-kuang, Commander of the 150th Division of the Kuomintang's 44th Corps, came over to the People's Liberation Army with over 2,000 of his remaining troops in the Nienchuang sector, east of Hsuchow, Kiangsu Province, on November 18, 1948, during the first stage of the Huai-Hai campaign. Huang Tse-hua, Commander of the 23rd Division of the Kuomintang's 85th Corps, came over to the People's Liberation Army with his division headquarters and the remnants of 2 regiments at Shuangtuichi, northeast of Mengcheng, Anhwei Province, in December 1948, during the second stage of the Huai-Hai campaign.
2. Changchun had been besieged by the Northeast People's Liberation Army since the winter of 1947. After the capture of Chinchow by our army, when all the enemy troops in the Northeast were in a shaky position, Cheng Tung-kuo, Kuomintang commander in Changchun and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang's Northeast "Bandit Suppression" Headquarters, led the army troops of the 1st Army and the officers and men of the New 7th Corps to surrender on October 19, 1948.
3. After receiving this message, Tu Yu-ming, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang's Hsuchow "Bandit Suppression" Headquarters, Chiu Ching-chuan, Commander of the Kuomintang's 2nd Army, and Li Mi, Commander of the Kuomintang's 13th Army, continued to resist desperately with the result that all their troops were wiped out by our army's powerful offensive. Tu Yu-ming was captured, Chiu Ching-chuan was killed and only Li Mi managed to escape.
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